Ahimsa (A closer look at non-violence)

Really don’t hurt anything? What if I kill a plant? What about when I’m trying to get out of the train and no one wants to make room for me and I push through anyway using my purse as a shield? And let’s be honest: why do we fear insects so much that so many of us respond by killing? Is it because they live in the deepest and darkest parts of our world that we can’t see? Parts we know so little about, and why do we find them disgusting? Did we always feel this way? And how is it that some people don’t have the same visceral response? They’re not scared. Do they save themselves and inevitably save us by granting the pause and critical thinking?

Insecticides/ herbicides date back to the end of WWII. Have we been conditioned to kill them? It was a time when scientist were trying to discover a new way to wage war: Chemicals. So long, as I know, which isn’t saying a whole lot, we did not get a chance to use them on our enemies, however the government found a way to implement them in Agriculture in the form of pest control. These “control” programs intended to stop the infestation of a beetle or aphid or something like it, via poisonous death. I am not denying the severity of the potential harm/ damage to trees, crops, etc from such nuisances, but liberally sprayed chemicals that are “poisonous” inevitably and obviously impact more than the insects they were originally targeted for, as no one exists alone in nature. Many of these chemicals are still used today knowing how much devastation they cause and how many have died at the irresponsible use of these deadly chemicals. Want examples? Look at California alone.

THE CDC TOOK DOWN THE PAGE OF US STATISTICS OF INSECTICIDE RELATED DEATH.

Insecticides/herbicides are responsible for the death of not just of insects across our nation but entering the tissues of our plants/fruits/vegetables that they’re sprayed on, they linger and destroy the soil that gives vegetation its life-sustaining nutrients, all of the groundwater that feeds our rivers and lakes, the fish that depend on those waters, the birds that eat those fish, and the people that call this planet home drinking and eating as she pleases.

This day in age we are bombarded on social media with selfies. Someone got butt implants that you just have to see, this one loves kissing the mirror in her car, or this one wants you to see how much weight she lost drinking a shake product she’s pushing you to buy, this other one is holding an awesome yoga pose, stomach shots, breast shots, etc. Do not wish someone misfortune JUST BECAUSE something they are showing the world triggers you to feel a certain way about you.

Be Kind. Let someone in your lane, particularly if their lane has a closure or blockage! Honestly, what good does it do you to be one car length ahead of anyone?

Create an attitude of nurturing and realization so that all is one.

Try to see the other side of the story.

Envision everyone as the same and connected so that human beings may spring from egoistic impulses towards unification and transcendence of the spirit.